The Cheesecake Factory can be found in nearly three dozen states, but Twelve Oaks Mall will be the popular chain's first Michigan location. / PR NEWSWIRE

Detroit Free Press Business Writer

Taubman Centers said today that The Cheesecake Factory will open its first Michigan location at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi later this year.

The Cheesecake Factory can be found in nearly three dozen states, but Twelve Oaks Mall will be the popular chain's first Michigan location.

The restaurant offers an extensive, full-service menu ranging from seafood to steaks along with, of course, a large dessert menu that includes more than two-dozen cheesecake choices.

For years, real estate developers in Michigan have tried to convince the restaurant chain to locate in Michigan, said Jim Bieri, a principal with Stokas Bieri Real Estate.

“It’s really unique in the volume of business it does. They are among the highest of any mall restaurant,” said Jim Bieri, a principal with Stokas Bieri Real Estate. “It’s bigger deal than normal because people have been trying to get them for so long.”

Bloomfield Hills-based Taubman Centers said The Cheesecake Factory will operate an 8,430-square-foot location at Twelve Oaks restaurant that will accommodate approximately 225 guests with another 60 on the patio.

Twelve Oaks General Dan Jones said he expects the will draw people to the mall that otherwise would have shopped or dined elsewhere.

“From my perspective, to have a restaurant that is so iconic, and such a destination, is a phenomenal addition to the shopping center for us,” Jones said.

Jones said The Cheesecake Factory will be located between Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor, replacing Tin Fish, which has closed.

“Having grown up in Detroit and watched my parents start their cheesecake business here in the 1950s, opening a Cheesecake Factory at Twelve Oaks feels like a true homecoming,” David Overton, founder and CEO of The Cheesecake Factory said in a statement.

Founded in 1978, The Cheesecake Factory operates 177 restaurants in the U.S.